The University Dining Hall building, "one of the jewels of modern Spanish architecture".

Built in 1970 by the San Sebastian architect Rafael Echaide (1923-1995), the building university dining hall of the University was the protagonist of the event held last Saturday, whose goal was to highlight this architectural work, belonging to the modern movement, with the placement of a plaque of Iberian DoCoMoMo.

The event was attended by the president of the committee Superior de los Colegios de Arquitectos de España(CSCAE), Marta Vall-llosera, from visit in Pamplona, together with the rest of the governing team and councilors of this body. high school Vall-llosera was in charge of placing the plaque together with the president of the Official Basque-Navarre Architects Association(COAVN) in Navarra, Josecho Vélaz, who was also accompanied by the Dean of the COAVN, Patxi Chocarro, and members of the School of Architecture of the University of Navarra: its director, Carlos Naya; Professor José Manuel Pozo, expert in Iberian DoCoMoMo; and Eduardo Domingo, director of development. Also attending the quotation was the secretary of COAVN in Navarra, Roberto Erviti, and other members of the board board, as well as members such as María Urmeneta, president of AVNAU (association Basque Navarre Architecture and Urban Planning of COAVN) and Luis Tena, colleague and professor of this School.

The placement of the plaque is a call of attention to an architecture that "sometimes, because of its proximity in time, is not sufficiently valued", according to the president of the Navarra delegation of COAVN, Josecho Vélaz, the organizer of this event together with School of Architecture of the University.

After the plaque was placed on the side of the building's main entrance , the attendees were given a guided tour of the interior of the building at visit .

The legend of the plaques, in A3 size and made in white corian, shows the name of the building, its authorship, the year the work began and the year it was completed, together with the logo of the CSCAE (committee Superior de Colegios de Arquitectos de España) and the Iberian DoCoMoMo Foundation.

The president of the committee Superior de los Colegios de Arquitectos de España (CSCAE), Marta Vall-llosera, and the president of the high school Oficial de Arquitectos Vasco-Navarro (COAVN) in Navarra, Josecho Vélaz, placed the Iberian DoCoMoMo plaque.

A firm commitment to disseminating modern architectural culture

Marta Vall-llosera, president of the CSCAE, pointed out that this is the first time that a plaque has been placed in the presence of the CSCAE outside Madrid and that the placement of this plaque represents "a award to the permanence for the architectural value of the building". He valued the work of DoCoMoMo for its function and recalled that "it is everyone's duty to make it known and to protect it. Works are often being lost due to lack of protection in the municipal catalogs", a task that DoCoMoMo compensates with an inventory of works that reaches 1,200 between Spain and Portugal, of which 35 are in Navarra.

"One of the jewels of modern Spanish architecture". This is how Professor José Manuel Pozo defined this building, recalling that the extension of the initial dates set by DoCoMoMo made it possible to introduce this building a few years ago. Pozo defined Echaide as "a discreet architect if ever there was one, whom we should remember especially in the year that marks the centenary of his birth". He added that there are several reasons that make this building "one of the most representative of DoCoMoMo in Navarra". He recalled in this sense that it is a work that represents the culmination of Echaide's work before starting his work as professor at the University of Navarra. The building, "a space for rest and relaxation for students," is characterized, he added, by its dining rooms open to the campus and the river with large windows, its allusions to industrial resources and an "exquisite combination" of materials.

For his part, Josecho Vélaz, who opened the event, wished to emphasize "the excellence of the architecture of the University of Navarra's buildings as a whole" and highlighted the COAVN's "firm commitment" to "disseminating architectural culture among the public, especially that of the modern movement (1925-1975), which has been inexplicably neglected".

Navarre buildings with Iberian DoCoMoMo plaque

In the case of Navarra, the Iberian DoCoMoMo has registered 35 buildings, of which 12 have already been honored with the placement of this distinctive sign: Library Services University of Navarra (1965), by Ignacio Araujo Múgica and Juan Lahuerta Vargas; Clínica de Universidad de Navarra (1965-1967), by Ignacio Araujo Múgica and Juan Lahuerta Vargas; Edificio de Las Hiedras (Pamplona, 1961), by Fernando Redón Huici and Javier Gibert Tabar; high school Vázquez de Mella (1934), by Serapio Esparza San Julián; Torre de Erroz, by Fernando Redón and Javier Guibert; Casino Eslava, by Víctor Eusa; Edificio del Paseo Sarasate nº 5, by Joaquín Zarranz; Casa de la Juventud en Pamplona, by Estanislao de la Quadra Salcedo; Chalet del Club de Golf de la Ultzama, by Fernando Redón and Javier Guibert; Clínica Ubarmin (Alzuza), by Fernando Redón; Iturrondo professional center (Burlada), by Julio Cano Lasso and Alberto Campo Baeza; and now university dining hall (1970), by Rafael Echaide.